Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti has said he's hopeful that Republic of Ireland captain Seamus Coleman could return from injury next week.
The Donegal native sustained a recurrence of a hamstring injury while on international duty last month.
He had to be withdrawn from the squad before Stephen Kenny's side lost 3-0 to England in a friendly at Wembley Stadium.
With the update, the Toffees boss was speaking on Friday afternoon, ahead of their massive Premier League game against Chelsea on Saturday.
He ruled him out of this game but did have some positive news on the Killybegs man,
"We have three players not available, one is Coleman.
"He started this week to train with the team, he's quite good but I think that he will be available for the next game against Leicester on Wednesday."
Elsewhere, Everton have today been dealt a major blow with James Rodriguez unavailable for the game against Frank Lampard's side.
The playmaker, who arrived from Real Madrid in the summer, picked up a knock against Burnley last weekend.
Ancelotti has confirmed that he, as well as Fabian Delph and Coleman will all be on the sidelines for the Saturday night game.
"We have Delph out, who suffered an injury against Burnley.
"We have James out, who had a little problem in the game against Burnley. He was not able to train this week, I think he will start to train next week.
"For this game, we don't want to take a risk.
"He had a charge on his muscle after the game, on his calf, after the game against Burnley. Nothing special, he was not able to train.
"I don't want to take a risk with a player who was not able to train this week. We have to look at him after the game to see if he will be able to train and play against Leicester."
Even with the loss of such key players, Ancelotti is confident about the prospect of taking on the Pensioners, who would temporarily go top of the table with a win.
"I'm not used to complaining about the players who are not available. The players who are available trained well and are in good condition.
"We understand that there will be an important moment and test, not only tomorrow but in this period of December.
"So I think we arrive at the game with confidence and motivation."
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